Indeed, I’ve seen the type a couple of times before. They usually show up when an aloof management admits to themselves they have run out of ideas and want to introduce “transformational” thinking into an established team. They’ll typically fanny around for a few weeks, make a few noises that sound like no true Scotsman, annoy everybody, break a few things and then move on to the next thing when they burn out. How do I know this? I have been that guy.
As I mentioned in another post, sometimes it becomes a rite of passage, especially if you are put in a situation where you weren't properly mentored/checked. I've only left one real 'mess', it was a smaller one and mostly because I left the org before we were able to get to the final state. However I gave plenty of notes to make sure they could finish it up.
On the other hand I've managed to build a good career out of being the guy who shows up after a mess is made, and cleans it up. (BTW, this is not a bad spot to be in if you like learning either, you will get good at actually -reading- code, other people's code. And, all the crazy stuff you see, eventually you start to realize there is a -right- way to use some of it. :)
One thing about the software -development- process (be it software engineering or something else) is that there should still be some form check/balance to avoid insanity. As an example, at the moment I'm working on some performance stuff for an open source library. But there's a certain point where I said "I'm stopping here, any work onward is going in a new branch, since it's going to be impure to the rest of the project and IDK if that's what people really want, even if it's a decent gain". Common sense.
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Indeed, I’ve seen the type a couple of times before. They usually show up when an aloof management admits to themselves they have run out of ideas and want to introduce “transformational” thinking into an established team. They’ll typically fanny around for a few weeks, make a few noises that sound like no true Scotsman, annoy everybody, break a few things and then move on to the next thing when they burn out. How do I know this? I have been that guy.
Hey at least you've gained the introspection to realize it. That takes effort. I've also been that guy, and hope I am not still.
As I mentioned in another post, sometimes it becomes a rite of passage, especially if you are put in a situation where you weren't properly mentored/checked. I've only left one real 'mess', it was a smaller one and mostly because I left the org before we were able to get to the final state. However I gave plenty of notes to make sure they could finish it up.
On the other hand I've managed to build a good career out of being the guy who shows up after a mess is made, and cleans it up. (BTW, this is not a bad spot to be in if you like learning either, you will get good at actually -reading- code, other people's code. And, all the crazy stuff you see, eventually you start to realize there is a -right- way to use some of it. :)
One thing about the software -development- process (be it software engineering or something else) is that there should still be some form check/balance to avoid insanity. As an example, at the moment I'm working on some performance stuff for an open source library. But there's a certain point where I said "I'm stopping here, any work onward is going in a new branch, since it's going to be impure to the rest of the project and IDK if that's what people really want, even if it's a decent gain". Common sense.
Probably not. In my experience, they usually have zero self-awareness, so your own introspection bodes well.